Gas-engine



G. A. KEMMER.

GAS ENGINE.

APPUCATION FILED APKQI 919. 1,357,993. Patented Nov. 9, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET1- INVENTOR ail/51127277267:

I TORNEY G. A. KEMMER.

GAS ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR-911919.

Patented Nov. 9, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR 61175977372267? GEORGE A. KEMMER, 0F CLINTONVILLE, WISCONSIN.

GAS-ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 9, 1920.

' Application filed April 9, 1919. Serial No. 288,830.

To all w from it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. KnMMnn, a citizenof the United States residin at Glintonville, Waupaca county, tate of Wis- I consin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to internal combustion engines of the rotary or turbine type and has for its general object to provide an improved engine of this type which .will effectively compress successive charges of gas and'direct-them into an explosive chamber where they are exploded and then directed into an expansion chamber where the pressure is stored or accumulated and then directed against the vanes of a rotor.

A further, object of the invention is in an engine of this character; an improved construction and arrangement of-valveoperab ing mechanism, whereby the valves will be operated in their regular and predetermined order so as to obtain the greatest power from the exploded gases.

A still further object is to provide an automatic throttle for engines of this type wherein the pressure of the gas in the expansion chamber acts to' throw a part of the engine outof operation and thus regulate the amount of explosive charges admittedto the expansion chamber. And the invention also aims to generally improve engines'of this type so" asto simplify their construction, render their operation regular, with little vibration, and otherwise efficient, and to render them generally more usefuland commercially desirable.

And to these ends theinvention consists in the novel details of construction and combination of parts more fully hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims;

Referring to the drawings forming a part i of this specification, in which like numerals designate like parts in all the views,

Flgurel is a longitudinal sectional view of my improved engine;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view thereof taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, with parts shown broken away for the sake of-clear ness Fig. 3 is a detail top plan View of the rotor; Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view is a cross sectional view taken on the line 5'5 of Fig. i.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 1 designates a base for supporting the engine and 2 the casing secured thereto. The casing is provided with the bearings 3 in which is mounted the main or drive shaft 4: to which is secured the rotary piston wheel or rotor 5 adapted to rotate with the shaft Within the casing. The rotor is preferably formed as shown and comprises the hollow hub portion 6 through which the exhaust gases pass, and the sides or disk portions 7 between'which are arranged the vanes 8. The vanes are preferably curved and arranged as shown, so as'to provide the rotor with a series of pockets which extend substantially one half of the diameter of the rotor. I g

The casing is provided with an extended portion 9 in the end of which is a vertically disposed pump cylinder 10 in which is mounted for reciprocating movement a charge compressing piston 11. The pistonis pivotally connected by a pitman 12 to a crank 13 on the end of the crank shaft 14:, which crank shaft extends longitudinally as shown and is mounted within/ bearings 15 on the brackets 15 suspended from beneath the extended portion 9 of the casing. The crank shaft is driven by'being provided with a gear wheel 16 which meshes with a pinion 17 mounted on the end of the main shaft 4. r

The upper end "of the cylinder 10 constitutes a -compression chamber, and the compressed charges are passed from said. chamber into an explosive chamber 18 as shown in Fig. 1. The. passage establishing communication between the compression and explosive chambers is controlled by a springactuated check valve 19. 2O designates a second spring-actuated check valve which is arranged within the cylinder casing opposite the valve 19 and is provided for controlling the passage which establishes communication between the compression chamher and chamber 21, to which is connected any suitable carbureter and gas feed to provide fuel for the engine.

By means of the passage 22 communication is established between the explosive chamber 18 and the expansion chamber 23. This passage 22 is controlled by a valve 24 having an opening 25 extending transversely therethrough, said valve being mounted for a rotary movement. In order I to operate this valve at the proper time it is The nozzle openings are controlled by the valves 32 which are hand-operatechand are provided for regulating theflow of gases to the rotor and for closing the openings when desired. The angle of the nozzles with reference to the vanes of the rotor is such as to cause the escaping gases to strike against the rear faces of the vanes for substantially one half of the diameter of the rotor, until they are exhausted through the'hub portion thereof. By the provision and the arrangement of the expansion chamber, as shown, it isobvious that a constant pressure is substantially maintained against the vanes of the rotor at a plurality of points.

Mounted within the side of the casing is a horizontally disposed cylinder- 33 in which is mounted for reciprocating movement a piston 34. This cylinder is in communication with the expansion chamber and forms a part of the automatic throttle mechanism which is rendered active by pressure variations in the expansion chamber for controlling the activity of the pump and the regularity of the cyclic operations of the valve 24. The piston 34 is mounted on the end of a rod 35 which has its bearings provided in the end of the cylinder 33 and in a bearing 37 mounted on one of the brackets 15 as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. A coil spring, 38, arranged within the cylinder and having one of its ends bearing against the end of the cylinder and the other of its ends bearing against the piston is provided for holding ,the piston inits normal or extended position. This spring is of sufticient tension to resist a predetermined pressure of gas in the expansion chamber. The rod 35 is connected as at 38 to a rocker arm 39, which arm is pivotally connected at one end, as at 40. to the extended portion 9 of the casing. The other end of the rocker arm is connected to the sliding member of a clutch 41 which is mounted on the crank shaft 14 as shown.

This sliding member is keyed to the shaft and engages the other member of the clutch formed on the gear 16.

To prevent the operation of the throttle when the valve 24 is in its open position the valve shaft 27 is provided with a cam 42. This cam is in the path of movement ofa projection 43 mounted on the rod and is arranged so that during the revolution of rotate.

the valve, the throttle cannot operate until the high part of the cam has passed out of contact with the projection 43 and in which position communication is cut off between the explosive and expansion chambers.

The timing mechanism for the ignition system is so arranged that the spark plug 45 or similar ignition device will operate to produce a spark just after two successive compressed charges have been admitted into the explosion chamber. The exhaust as disclosed is through the hub of the rotor and thelcentral lower portion of the casing as shown. 7

From the foregoing description in connection with the accompanying drawings, the operation of my improved internal combustion engine will be apparent. As the crank shaft 14 turns, the down stroke of the piston 11 will cause the check valve 20 to open and permit a charge of gas to enter the cylinder; the up-stroke of the piston compresses this charge in the compression chamber and forces open the checkvalve 19 so that the compressed charge is forced into the explosive chamber 18. the gears 16 and 17 being so proportioned that two successive charges of gas are compressed and directed into the explosive chamber before the explosive charge is ignited. Simultaneously with the ignition of the explosive charge, the valve 24. by means of the gears 28 and 29, is opened which permits the exploded charge to enter the expansion chamber 23. After a sutiicient and predetermined pressure of gases has accumulated in the expansion chamber the valves 32 are then opened and the pressure permitted to escape through the nozzles 31 and strike the vanes of the rotor. Should the pressure of gas in the expansion chamber get excessive the automatic throttle is then brought into operation. The pressure is directed against the head of the piston 34 which forces it and the rod rearwardly against the action of the spring 38. The rearward movement of the rod swings the rocker arm 39 rearwardly and causes it to disengage the clutch and thereby stop the turning of the crank shaft.

hen the excessive pressure in the expansion chamber has been reduced, the piston and rod will be returned to its normal position by the action of the spring 38 and the clutch will again be thrown into operation thereby permitting the crank shaft to again Through the action of the cam 42 mountedon the valve rod 27, engaging the projection 43 mounted on the rod 35, it is obvious that the throttle cannot operate until the valve 24 is in its closed position and communication cut off between the explosive and expansion chambers.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction and arrangement of parts Without departing from the spirit of my invention, and, therefore, I do not wish to be limited to such features except as may be required by the claims.

llhat I claim is 1. In a gas engine wherein an exploded charge is delivered'from an explosive chamvalve and gas feed means.

2. In a gas engine wherein an exploded.

charge is delivered from an explosive chamber to an expansion chamber adapted to store the exploded gases, means for feeding gas under pressure to the explosive chamber, means for controlling the admission of the charge to the expansion chamber, and means rendered active by pressure variations within the expansion chamber for controlling the activity of both the gas feed and charge presenting means.

3. In a gas engine wherein an exploded *harge is delivered from an explosive chamber to an expansion chamber adapted to store the exploded trolling the admission of the charge to the expansion chamber, and means rendered active by pressure variations within the expansion chamber for controlling the activity of the valve.

4:. In a gas engine wherein an exploded charge is delivered from an explosive chamber to an expansion chamber adapted to store the exploded gases, means for controlling communication between said chambers to provide a cyclic succession of periods of open communication therebetween, and means rendered active by pressure variations in the expansion chamber for controlling the regularity of such cyclic operations and mechanism operative to limit such regulation variations to periods when said chanr bers are not in communication.

5. In a gas engine wherein an exploded charge is delivered from an explosive chamgases, a valve for conname to this specification in the ber to an expansion chamber adapted to store the exploded gases, a rotating valve for controlling the admission of the charge to the expansion chamber, and means rendered active by the pressure variations with in the expansion chamber for limiting the activity of the valve when the chambers are not in communication.

6. In a gas engine wherein an exploded charge is delivered from an explosive chamber to an expansion chamber adapted to store the exploded gases, means for feeding gases under pressure to the explosive chamber, means for controlling the admission of the charge to the expansion chamber, and spring-actuated means rendered active by the pressure variations within the expansion chamber for controlling the activity of both the gas feed and charge presenting means.

7. In a gas engine wherein an exploded charge is delivered from an explosive chamber to an expansion chamber adapted to store the exploded gases, a crank shaft, a valve connected to the shaft, and ar 'anged for controlling the admission of the charge to the expansion chamber, means connected to.the crank shaft for feeding gas to said explosive chamber, and means rendered active by pressure variations within the expansion chamber for controlling the. activity of the crank shaft.

8. In a gas engine wherein an exploded charge is delivered from an explosive chamber to an expansion chamber adapted to store the exploded gases, a shaft, means connected to the shaft and arranged for controlling the admission of the charge to the expansion chamber, a clutch mounted on said shaft, and means connected to the clutch and rendered active by the pressure variations within the expansion chamber for operating the clutch.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 18th day of March, 1919.

- GEORGE A. KEMMER.

Witnesses:

KATHLEEN STANTON, ERNEST J. MILLER. 

